Baseball: Westfield's Bob Brewster captures career win No. 600

Bob Brewster gets emotional when he speaks about what means the most to him.

The Westfield High School baseball coach has won more games and captured more championships than more coaches will their entire lives, but Brewster is most proud about the family and community he has created at his alma mater and the personal bonds he has forged with his players over the last 35 seasons.

“Sometimes I get emotional in front of my team, and I feel bad, but the kids, I have to show them I’m a human being, and I’m not this guy who’s going to chew their heads off for whatever reason,” Brewster said, trying his best to hold back tears. “You have to talk to the kids. You have to be a human being to them."

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Case in point. Earlier this season, a mother of a player on the team approached Brewster about her son. The player’s grandparents were very ill, and she asked Brewster if her son could take a couple games off so her son could spend time with his grandparents before their health further deteriorated.

Brewster didn’t have to think twice about what his decision would be.

“As soon as I heard that, it hit home for me,” Brewster said. “I told the kid if he didn’t go, I’d be mad at him. To me, family is important, and being able to stay in Westfield was also important.”

Brewster earned the 600th win of his career, all with Westfield, with a 1-0 victory against Cranford on Thursday to improve his record to 600-306-3. During his time at the helm of the Blue Devils, Brewster has captured three sectional titles, most recently in 2013, and nine county titles, most recently in 2013 as well, which is the most of any team in Union County.

More important than any milestone or championship, Brewster is one of the most easy-going, even-keeled coaches in the county. His personality has done wonders for the development for young, impressionable players.

Just ask Mike Murray. A former San Francisco Giant farmhand and current St. Joseph head coach, Murray stepped in as starting catcher as a freshman for the 2003 Blue Devils one year removed from winning their seventh county title. He also hit third in the order and was thrust into a pressure cooker

Murray admittedly made quite a few mistakes in the early going, but Brewster didn’t hound him about every error. Instead he let the youngster, who eventually blossomed into an All-State catcher, play through his woes.

“What I remember about Coach Brewster early on was he let me go through those mistakes as a player where as a freshman, I was throwing balls into right field and swinging at balls over my head, but he allowed me to learn and develop as a player, and it benefited me so much later in my high school career,” Murrary said. “He’s a very loose coach, he’s fun to play for, and he likes to mess around with his players, telling jokes, some better than others. He’s been there before, he’s a Westfield guy through and through, and he connected the history and tradition through what’s going on today.”

A 1968 graduate of Westfield High School, Brewster was a catcher for the Blue Devils during his playing days and played any other position as a catcher did, blocking second base from a base runner as he did home plate. His father, Bob Sr., was a long time coach in Westfield and the field that Bob Jr. played and currently coaches on was named after his father.

With such familial and personal ties to the school, it comes as no surprise Brewster has created a tightknit family within his baseball empire. Four of his current assistant coaches played under him in high school or middle school and many others have moved on to become successful coaches at other schools and levels.

“Being on the same field as I grew up on as a high school kid is rather special,” Brewster said. “Our kids take home games importantly, and we’ve instilled that during my time as head coach, and a lot of kids come back. To me, that’s a special thing when those kids come back.”

Brewster has also acted as a chameleon in his 35 seasons, changing his colors as the ever-changing sport of baseball has thrown its curveballs. He used to warm up pitchers behind the plate between innings, but since 2009 graduate Chris Jenkins’ 95 MPH fastball rendered his trifocals and aging eyes useless, Brewster now observes from the dugout.

He’s also had to manage different kids spanning many generations. With each new batch of kids incoming every year and every decade, Brewster has to cater to each player’s and each generation’s needs, and he’s done it seamlessly.

“Things have changed a lot in 35 years, you don’t last 35 years without being able to adapt to that and develop relationships with people,” Scotch Plains-Fanwood coach Joe Higgins said. “If he hadn't been able to do that, he would have burned out a long time ago. I think he just loves baseball and Westfield too much.”

Upon reflection, it is Bob Brewster the man, the human being, not the coach that most former players and current adversaries speak the highest about.

“High school kids with their psyche, it only takes one thing to get them really off task, but he lets them play,” Gov. Livingston coach Chris Roof said. “He’s calm and cool for the most part, and the kids seem relaxed, and when you’re relaxed, you play your best.”

If nature allowed Brewster to coach forever, he’d probably succeed forever. As long as he’s leading the Blue Devils on the diamond, Brewster will always lead his kids as a human being first, and a coach second.

“I’m able to relate to the kids, and that’s an important thing,” Brewster said. “I just I’m a big kid at heart.”

Staff Writer Daniel LoGiudice can be reached atdlogiudice@gannettnj.com. Follow him on Twitter @danny_logiudice.